Rory McIlroy expressed sympathy for Tiger Woods after his latest injury setback and insisted he’d like to retire when he has “a little bit left in the tank”.
Speaking on the eve of the Players Championship, where he is drawn with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, the world number two reiterated his vow not to play senior golf when he hits 50.
The Holywood star (35) said he would have no problem stepping aside and allowing the younger generation to have their chance to shine.
But he’s hoping he will have achieved all his career goals by then.
“I think when I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve in the game, and I get to the point where I don’t think I can maybe do that anymore,” he said of the best time to hang up his spikes.
“I’d also like to walk away with a little bit left in the tank. I don’t want to be out there embarrassing myself. I’d like to walk away maybe a little before I should. Put it that way.
“There’s always one more, but that’s okay. I think if you can come to terms with that and walk away on your own terms, then that’s a good thing.”
As for the news that Woods, his partner in the indoor TGL venture, had ruptured his Achilles tendon and will likely be out of the game until 2026, he was hugely sympathetic.
“Yeah. It sucks,” he said. “He doesn’t have much luck when it comes to injuries and his body.
“Obviously, he was trying to ramp up to get ready for Augusta, and Achilles surgeries obviously aren’t fun. Hoping he’s in good spirits and hoping he’s doing okay.
“We obviously won’t see him play golf this year, and hopefully we see him maybe play in 2026.”
Woods revealed on Tuesday that he suffered the latest in a long series of injuries while training at home ahead of a possible competitive return in next month’s Masters at Augusta National.
“Well, he said he’d only touched a club three times or something, so I wouldn’t say he’d have been necessarily close,” McIlroy said of Woods’ preparedness for the Masters and his frequent TGL appearances.
“But he was obviously trying to get closer by ramping up and training and practising and doing whatever he was doing.
“Yeah, I’d say he was trying to catch up on some lost time there.”
As for his own retirement, McIlroy said he’d have no problem walking away from the game if he was no longer competitive.
“I’ll be okay with that,” he said. “I’m very happy to move aside for the younger generation to come through.
“I look at other sports, and I’ve had an unbelievable – I turned pro in 2007. I’m 18 years into a career. Not a lot of athletes can say they’ve had an 18-year career, and I’m only 35.
“I can acknowledge how lucky golfers are to be able to do what they do for so long compared to other athletes, so whenever I feel like the time is right, I’ll have no problem moving aside and letting the next generation do their thing.”
Unlike Pádraig Harrington, he has no interest in playing the Champions Tour.
“Absolutely not,”’ McIlroy said. “I will not play Champions Tour golf.
“Look, I’ve said a lot of absolutes in my time that I’ve walked back, but I do not envision playing Champions Tour golf.
“Something has went (sic) terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50.”
Rory McIlroy speaks to the media before a practice round of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida today. Photo: AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Meanwhile, McIlroy will take the positives from an improved putting performance into the Players Championship as he seeks a second victory at Sawgrass.
McIlroy, who won golf’s unofficial ‘fifth major’ in 2019, began his PGA Tour campaign with victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but was unable to mount a serious title challenge in each of his subsequent starts.
However, the four-time major winner was encouraged by his performance on the greens in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where an experiment with new equipment proved to be short-lived.
“It feels good,” McIlroy said of his game during a pre-tournament interview.
“I’d say even the two finishes post-Pebble have been almost like the worst that they could be. I finished bad on Sunday at Bay Hill. I finished bad on Sunday at Torrey Pines, as well.
“But the one thing I would say is the turnaround in my putting from Torrey to Bay Hill was great. I finished, I think, fifth [actually seventh] in putting last week, so to see that turn around was really encouraging.
“That’s something for me to be really encouraged about going into this week, obviously, and then the next few months.”
McIlroy switched to some of his sponsor’s new clubs for the first three rounds at Bay Hill but struggled to get to grips with the updated equipment and returned to his old set-up on Sunday.
“Some years you vibe with a new piece of equipment a little easier,” McIlroy explained.
“Like that Qi10 that I’m using that they brought out last year, it was like love at first sight. I was like, this thing is amazing. I think when you feel like that about a golf club, it’s very hard to change into something else.
“It ebbs and flows. Some years it’s easier than others. Look, they’re all businesses and they’re all trying to make money and innovate and try to be better. So I understand why the cycle is the way it is.”
McIlroy will partner Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler in the first two rounds at Sawgrass, Scheffler having become the first player in the tournament’s 50-year history to win back-to-back titles last year.
Scheffler carded an eagle and six birdies in a flawless closing 64 to overturn a five-shot deficit and finish 20 under par, a shot ahead of Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman.
The world number one, who battled a neck injury 12 months ago, said: “I would say last year this whole tournament was one of the best performances I’ve had in my career, for sure.
“I think the way I played injured Friday and Saturday to just keep myself in the tournament took a lot of fight, a lot of heart.
“Definitely did not play golf the way I normally would, but I was so comfortable with my swing at the time that I was able to chip it around and play weird shots and somehow make pars and make some key birdies when I needed to.
“I fought really hard all week to have a chance and was fortunate at the end of the week to get it done.”